Series: The Judged
Message: Questions
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Mark Witas
Live Wonder: Jessyka Albert
Live Adventure: Jessyka Albert
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Romans 3:1-8 in the New International Version (NIV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: Somehow many of us have been duped into believing that it’s our faithfulness that ultimately saves us. The story of Abraham demonstrates that this simply can’t be the case.
Abraham’s journey of faith started with a promise. God told him that he was going to make a great nation from him by providing him with a son. Abram (as he was originally named) was excited about this and took God at His word. At least until he didn’t. And his second-guessing started early on and followed many twists and turns. First, Abram decided to bring Lot (his sort of adopted nephew) along on the journey, just in case. Many theologians believe that Lot was Abram’s first plan if God’s promise didn’t work out. We all know how Lot worked out. Not very well. (See Genesis 19)
As time passed and Abram’s wife still hadn’t conceived, Abram became nervous and went to God with another plan. “Hey, how about I just adopt my head slave? I love him like a son anyway, and that will get You off the hook for providing me a son through Sarah.” God had to remind Abram of the promise and refocus him back on the original plan. After more time passed and Abram still didn’t see evidence of God’s faithfulness in the form the promised son, he took Haggar as a wife and got her pregnant. She bore a son, Ishmael, and Abram was sure he had gotten God out of a jam. Problem solved.
Once more, God had to step in and clean up Abram’s attempts to fulfill His promises. He told Abram again that he and Sarah would be having a son. He reminded Abram that he needed to trust Him with his whole body (hence the covenant of circumcision). Abram fell on his face and laughed at the prospect that he and Sarah, in their advanced age, could make a baby. Then, something remarkable happened. Genesis 21:1-2 says:
“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.”
Look at how the sentence is structured here. The Lord was gracious to Sarah, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.
How often do we accept the promise of salvation and then try to do everything we can do to fulfill God’s promise to us? Why can’t we just walk with Jesus in the realization that our salvation is a sure thing? It’s God’s faithfulness to us that saves us. Not our faithfulness to Him.
Recalibrate: How is God’s faithfulness more important than our faithfulness?
Respond: Thank God for His faithfulness and grace.
Research: Read Steps to Christ, Chapter 6, “Faith and Acceptance.”
Remember: “God keeps His word even when the whole world is lying through its teeth” (Romans 3:3, MSG).
Mark Witas is the lead pastor at Pacific Union College Church in Angwin, CA. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Mark has served as a youth pastor, Bible teacher, college and academy chaplain, and lead pastor in the United States and Canada for the last 33 years. He has also authored four books: Born Chosen, Live Out Loud, Portals, and Just Jesus.
What are some special things about your child? Now imagine none of those things existed. Would you still love your child the same amount? God is the same way. There were special things about the Jews, and God had a special relationship with them, but those special things such as trusting them with the Scriptures and circumcision did not make Him love them more.
There was something special about the Jews. God trusted them with His teachings, and with the Bible. Have you ever been trusted with something really important before? What was it? How did it make you feel? Just because God trusted the Jews with His teachings doesn’t mean He only loved them. Look up John 3:16 with your parents. Who does it say that God loved?
I recently watched a documentary about a pastor who led his whole church into trouble because of his belief that God “spoke” to him. He claimed that the things he was saying were the truth, even though they contradicted the Bible, basing this assertion on the idea that they were “God’s ideas” rather than his own. Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true and every human a liar.” What do you think this verse is trying to say to us? Do you think it is saying that we should view all people as liars? Paul seems to be passionate about us never being led to think that God is unfaithful. What does this mean for you?